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Beliefs, Gratitude & Aparigraha – IY eMagazine 161
What Do You Believe?
Question: I was raised as an atheist. Life would be so much easier if I had faith. In all my years of Yoga, I know I have heart, compassion and spirit, but I can’t connect with faith. Please offer me your guidance. Swami Satchidananda: Whether you know it or not, you...
How to Know if Yoga Teacher Training is for You: Advice from a Perpetual Student & Longtime Yoga Teacher
I started Yoga, fairly green, at the age of 19. I was not at all athletic or even interested in exercise before. Nor did I take interest in Yoga the first few times it surfaced in my life. In college, I took one class to satisfy a physical education credit, but I...
Living Mindfully and Gratefully
Some people think that monks have these esoteric practices and “What can we poor laypeople do?” But when you really understand what the monastic life is about, you realize that we are only doing — under more favorable circumstances and in an environment that...
Yogic Actions, Self-realization & Joy – IY eMagazine 160
Hatha Yoga: The Art of Change
Change is the act of becoming different, a natural occurrence that makes life possible. So why does it cause so much stress? Change comes into our awareness at the end of comfort. When life is good, there is no need to change. Only when things are uneasy do we begin...
Recovering Natural Joy
Many of us think of joy as an experience we have when something special happens. We may plan specific activities, such as a vacation, some entertainment or dining out, that we think will bring us joy. This thinking is so prevalent in our culture that we don’t realize...
The Realized Self
Question: If the Self is already realized and if it is already Divine, why do we need the experience of enlightenment to know this? Swami Satchidananda: Who said the Self is already realized and already Divine? Do you know positively? If you know this positively, you...
Raja Yoga Teaching of the Month: Tapas
In this monthly series on the Yamas and Niyamas, Swami Karunananda offers wisdom and reflections on applying these foundational principles of Yoga in daily life. This month’s focus is on Tapas, austerity. Sutra 2.43: “By austerity, impurities of body and senses are...